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Is a woman considered divorced by Islamic law from her deceased husband, given that he verbally pronounced a divorce upon her and deputized his brother to complete the official divorce procedures, but his brother was unable to do so before the husband's death, with the husband having publicized his divorce from her among people?

1 min readAlso available in العربية

If a man divorces his wife verbally, the divorce takes effect immediately and does not depend on its documentation in court. The waiting period ('iddah) for the divorced woman begins from the moment the husband pronounces the divorce. If the divorce is irrevocable (such as three divorces or khul'), and the 'iddah expires before the husband's death without a رجعة (reconciliation), she does not inherit from him. However, if the divorce is revocable (one or two divorces), and the husband dies before her 'iddah expires, she inherits from him. Whoever prevents a divorced woman from her lawful inheritance, knowing that she is entitled to it, is sinful. Similarly, she is sinful if she demands an inheritance to which she is not legally entitled, knowing that.

Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026

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